Daley praises probed towing firm

Feds investigate alleged auto theft

March 26, 2003|By Gary Washburn, Tribune staff reporter.

A controversial towing company that is under federal investigation has done a good job for the city, Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday.

Environmental Auto Removal Inc., which was hired by City Hall to take abandoned cars off streets shortly after Daley was first elected mayor, now handles 188,000 vehicles a year and has done its job effectively, he said.

"Oh definitely," he said. "When I first came in 1989 there were more abandoned cars than people, I believe. I mean, the biggest complaint was abandoned cars. Then we privatized [the towing]. It has been a great thing."

Tribune columnist John Kass reported Sunday that federal agents conducted a March 21 raid, seizing records at a South Side pound where towed cars are stored. Authorities reportedly are investigating whether some valuable autos that were not abandoned have been stolen and then resold.

Daley said he did not know the nature of the investigation, but then acknowledged that it might be about auto theft.

"It could be, yeah," he said. "A tow truck could pull down a street and pull a car. It happens. It could happen all the time. Maybe someone is stealing a car. We really don't know. We have had no complaints, but we follow through."

The towing company has a checkered history. It was formed just days before it won the lucrative city contract by Martin McNally, a lawyer with ties to Jeremiah Joyce, a Daley political operative, and by Edward Corcoran, a mayoral campaign donor. The company has used land for one of its pounds that was rented by the city from Michael Tadin, an 11th Ward businessman and longtime Daley friend.

In 1997, the city overpaid the company for its services by nearly $1 million. The money was refunded.

Daley acknowledged the towing company is controversial, but he suggested that is only because it tows so many vehicles.

"We have 188,000 cars," he said. "It is always a source of controversy. That is a lot of cars, 188,000 a year."

When a reporter mentioned the overpayment, Daley said, "I don't know about that. I don't know what you are talking about."

When he was reminded of the $1 million, he replied, "They corrected it."

The mayor was asked if he played any role in awarding the towing contract.

"None whatsoever," he said.

Attempts to reach company officials for comment were unsuccessful.

The investigation is not the only probe that could prove embarrassing to City Hall.

The Tribune reported last week that a federal grand jury has expanded its investigation of the Duff family's government contracts, issuing subpoenas for city records of 18 companies, including firms owned by the Duffs and others that do business with Duff companies.

One Duff business, Windy City Maintenance, several years ago won an affirmative action set-aside contract for janitorial services worth millions of dollars after representing itself as run by a woman. Officials later concluded that the purported operator, Patricia Green Duff, did not oversee operations.